Comesa İnter-State Trade Shows Progress: Outgoing Chief

Trade among member states of the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) has shown a remarkable increase, a bloc official said Monday.



Outgoing COMESA chief Joseph Kabila – also the president of the Democratic Republic of Congo – added that trade between these states reached a total of $22 billion in 2014, from only $3 billion 15 years ago.



"We are at the crossroads, having the courage to [affect] inclusive growth and bring about reformation, employing the abundant resources [available in COMESA member states]," Kabila said during the 18th COMESA summit, which kicked off in Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa on Monday.



The summit is being held under the theme, "Inclusive and Sustainable Industrialization," with participation from the heads of states and governments of COMESA member countries.



Kabila said that while some progress was made in different sectors – including agriculture and food security and services – the African continent was still lagging behind when it came to the eradication of poverty.



"There must be a committed battle against poverty," Kabila said.



He added that COMESA's financial institutions provided "great support" to the private and public sectors in the region.



He noted that COMESA would sign tripartite agreements with the Economic Community of West African States and the Southern African Development Community.



Ethiopia, meanwhile, took over the bloc's rotating chairmanship from Kabila's Democratic Republic of Congo.



Ethiopian Prime Minister Hailemariam Dessalegn said sound economic policies and institutions, along with high-level public and private investments, had helped COMESA's 19 member countries make remarkable progress, even in the aftermath of the global financial crisis.



He referred, however, to obstacles still hindering the eradication of poverty.



"COMESA gets strengthened by trade facilitation and creating free trade areas," Dessalegn said.



"The contribution of COMESA's financial institutions is great compared to the large quest," he added.



He said Ethiopia would give priority to the inclusivity of women and youth in industrialization during its one-year presidency of the bloc.



Chairperson of the African Union Commission, Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, for her part, said increased integration in COMESA member states would help realize "Agenda 2063," which was adopted by the African Union this year.



"The first implementation phase of Agenda 2063 is finalized," Dlamini-Zuma said.



"The vision to create a prosperous Africa is shifted from aspiration to implementation of Agenda 2063," she added, stressing the importance of involving women and youth in industrialization.



www.aa.com.tr/en - Addis Ababa